Roland Martin Is Leaving CNN

Another one bites the dust. Roland Martin is now the latest political commentator to leave CNN.

Today, the author, journalist and TV host announced to his nearly 200,000 Twitter followers that he will be leaving the network next month. After one of Martin’s Twitter followers wrote, “Roland I am really missing not hearing your view point on @CNN,” he shot back with, “Sorry. Can’t book myself. My last day at @cnn is April 6.”

The 44-year-old, who joined the network as a contributor in 2007, hinted that clashes with CNN’s new president, Jeff Zucker, is the reason for his departure. He told one of his followers the “new boss wants his own peeps.” Under Zucker’s leadership, analysts such as James Carville, Mary Matlan and Soledad O’Brien have also lost their positions at the network.

In an interview with Journal-isms, Martin said he throughly enjoyed his “little over six years” at CNN.

“There are many folks I will miss dearly, especially wonderful colleagues like Josanne Lopez, Soledad O’Brien, Ali Velshi, and so many bookers and producers,” he said. “But, I also miss the folks I tried to speak for and represent the most when I was on the air: the men and the women who worked on the crew; the security guards; and even the janitorial workers. Those were the people I most spoke for; those were the people who would cheer me on as I walked down the streets, in the grocery store; and at airports.”

He went on to say that the end of this chapter is not the end of the road for him. “I’ve worked hard to ensure that my voice wasn’t heard in one place. I will continue with my show on TV One, a network I was with before CNN; will continue my daily segment on the Tom Joyner Morning Show; and will continue my nationally syndicated column,” he said. “In my final days at CNN when I’m on the air, I will to do as the Tuskegee Airmen did, fight to the last hour, last minute, last second, for what is right. And I will do that as long as there is breath in my body.”